Nigeria says 'recaptured' NE areas from Boko Haram

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS

The Nigerian army said Friday that troops had managed to flush Boko Haram militants from several towns and villages in northeastern Borno State while killing numerous militants.

"After the capture of the Gwoza and Alagarno forest, troops from the third and seventh divisions of the Nigerian army – supported by the Nigerian air force – yesterday recaptured Bita, Izge, Yamteke and Uba towns in Askira Uba and the Damboa local government area of Borno State," army spokesman Sani Usman said in a Friday statement.

The release asserted that a number of militants had been killed in the clashes, along with one soldier. However, it did not give the number of casualties among the militants.

"During the encounter, one soldier paid the supreme price, while ten others sustained various degrees of injury.  Similarly, a lot of Boko Haram terrorists were killed," the spokesman stated.

In a statement late last month, the Nigerian military announced the "liberation" of Gwoza – the last major town still held by the militants.

Gwoza had been the headquarters of Boko Haram's self-styled "Islamic caliphate" in the northeast.

Nigeria is locked in a long-running insurgency – now in its sixth year – that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and internally displaced more than one million people.